Easy Summertime chicken

Smoked chicken makes for a great dinner that is fairly simple. Just take on whole chicken. Season to how you like and smoke it 3-4hours at 250 degrees. Add some fruit and veggies as the sides and bam a perfect summertime meal.

The beauty of this is there isn't a lot if maintenance except watching your temp. It makes for that perfect Sunday laid back dinner.

Here is what I did for mine. One whole chicken and I decided to try a new seasoning I had picked up today called Damiana. I just used salt, pepper, Damiana and crushed garlic. I rubbed it into the skin and let it sit while I went got the smoker going. Brought the smoker to 250 degrees and placed the chicken in. After 3 hours at that temp I checked the temp of the chicken. It was at 140 so I let it go another hour to get it to 165.

During that last hour I placed a tin foil bag of cauliflower drizzled in olive oil, salt Pepper and garlic. I placed it the smoker too and let it bake. Once the chicken was at temp.  I pulled off the rack and covered it to let it rest for 15 minutes. While the chicken was resting I placed the cauliflower closer to the fire until it was done with a little color.

Just cut up some watermelon or pineapple or you favorite summertime fruit. This makes for a great meal that everyone will enjoy.

Russian's who knew

Tonight I started drinking W'11 KGB a Russian Imperial Stout from Widmer brothers. I a not usually a Stout drinker, they usually don't quite fit my taste buds especially the most popular stouts. I will say that this stout I will be a return buyer because it is creamy, has a nice bite like a pale ale would and is very bold like you'd expect from a stout. A stouts origin comes from porters an rich coffee tasting beer but a stout would be the richest darker flavored porter that has a long intertwined history. The thing I would believe that makes this so rich and tasty would be that it is an Imperial brewing process. Most beers are roughly 4-6 weeks to process while Imperials are 4-6months but to find out the difference between a standard stout and an imperial stout which originates in Russia is that the imperial is brewed to have a higher alcohol content usually 9% or more to keep from freezing as easy in the colder regions of Russia. All in all this is a great beer and worth trying.

Chili seasoning (rub)

This is one of my favorite rubs it can have a tendency to be a little spicy but can be tempered with how many of the spicy peppers you put in to make your rub. This chili rub is made from dried peppers and gives off better flavors than most of the crap on the shelves in the stores even though there is a few that are good but usually cost more. This rub will give that higher quality flavor and yield at least twice the amount that you can buy in the store for the same price or cheaper.

Gluten free Crepes

The past few years my youngest son has had intestinal problems in which he has gone through more testing in various ways than most people over 50 have had to do. From this testing everything seemed to work itself out and nothing really could be diagnosed, but recently he has been getting more and more stomach aches in which we took him back to the doctor to see what is up. After being seen the doc tells us it may be Celiac which means he cannot have items with gluten such as wheat products. So this puts us back to homemade items again which is no problem to me because I usually prefer homemade.

Missed the rain by that much Pork Tenderloin

The other day i took advantage of the no rain in Vancouver while I was at my dads house and put a pork tenderloin in there smoker for about 4 hours I pulled it out about 5 degrees from peak temperature and thing was juicy. it had a lovely pink smoke ring and white in the middle. every time I cut it after letting it rest for about 15 minutes just clear fluids poured out Uhh just thinking about it makes me hungry again. So with that the rainy season has no effect on what is to be smoked anymore this year until it is to damn cold to be outside again in the fall. Here is a suggestion to all for smoking or grilling pork products use alot of fragrant seasonings in your rub and your bound to impress someone with your skills because the smell that the meat brings in when it is fresh off the smoker leaves your mouth watering and then the taste sets them thinking to what is in here but not even taking a second thought into seconds or thirds of that delicious meat.

Missed the rain by that much Pork Tenderloin

The other day i took advantage of the no rain in Vancouver while I was at my dads house and put a pork tenderloin in there smoker for about 4 hours I pulled it out about 5 degrees from peak temperature and thing was juicy. it had a lovely pink smoke ring and white in the middle. every time I cut it after letting it rest for about 15 minutes just clear fluids poured out Uhh just thinking about it makes me hungry again. So with that the rainy season has no effect on what is to be smoked anymore this year until it is to damn cold to be outside again in the fall. Here is a suggestion to all for smoking or grilling pork products use alot of fragrant seasonings in your rub and your bound to impress someone with your skills because the smell that the meat brings in when it is fresh off the smoker leaves your mouth watering and then the taste sets them thinking to what is in here but not even taking a second thought into seconds or thirds of that delicious meat.


Fragrant Spice you cold use

• Coriander
• Cinnamon ( I know what you're thinking Cinnamon c'mom that is for deserts not so my friend try it I'll bet you'll like it)
• Fennel
• Rosemary
• Garlic (obviously - why wouldn't you!)

Happy Smoking\grilling

MMMM Beer!!!! Try NINKASI

NINKASI brewing has out out some pretty spectacular beers thus being my first time trying there beer I will say I am impressed. Tonight I tried two of there beers the first being Total Domination IPA this is definitely full bodied crisp with the right amount of bitter that you'd expect from an IPA. With a 6.75% alcohol content this beer is equivalent to many of the great IPA's on the market today with the exception of one by my preference to be the best but were not here for that Today is NINKASI's day.